Balaam’s staff was simply a stick or rod that he had with him and used, at this point, to beat his animal. Like the more commonly used parallel word for “staff” (maṭṭeh; 136 times in Numbers), the maqqēl could be used as a walking stick (Gen. 32:11) or a weapon (1 Sam. 17:40). Hos. 4:12 uses maqqēl for the staff used in divining oracles (rhabdomancy). It is, therefore, possible that this staff had a cultic/magical function for Balaam.21 The point of this whole story is that, in contrast to
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